Univision anchor Jorge Ramos said Wednesday it was GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump who was out of line for Tuesday’s incident in which Mr. Ramos was removed from Mr. Trump’s press conference in Iowa before returning later.
Mr. Ramos, who repeatedly tried to ask Mr. Trump questions, said it was not a “stunt.”
“The one who is out of line is Donald Trump,” Mr. Ramos said on CNN’s “New Day.” “What happened is that — you know how it is in the press conferences. There were two reporters before me who asked their question[s], and then it was my turn. So I said, ’I have a question on immigration.’ “
“I stood up, he didn’t say anything, so I kept on asking my question, and I confronted him on the fact that he wants to deport 11 million and build a wall and deny citizenship. Obviously, he didn’t like my question,” he said. “So when he realized he didn’t like my question and when he realized what was going on, he tried to stop me and ask[ed] another reporter to ask a question.”
“At that point, I told him … I was a U.S. citizen, an immigrant and as a reporter, I [had] the right to ask a question,” he continued. “He said no, he told me to go back to Univision, and then I just kept on asking my question. He signaled to his security people and at that point — because let’s remember, this is Donald’s Trump’s press conference, he was in control — he signaled his security people to throw me out of the press conference. It’s the first time in my life that this has happened.”
Speaking earlier on NBC’s “Today” program, Mr. Trump said it was Mr. Ramos who was out of line.
“I will tell you, he was totally out of line last night. I was asking and being asked a question from another reporter,” Mr. Trump said. “I would have gotten to him very quickly, and he stood up and started ranting and raving like a madman and frankly, he was out of line and most people, in fact most newspaper reports, said I handled it very well.”
Mr. Ramos rejected the idea that he jumped the queue.
“He didn’t have to call on everyone, and you know how it is,” Mr. Ramos said.
“I want to have an interview with Donald Trump and I wanted to have an interview with Donald Trump, up to a point in which a few weeks ago, I sent him a handwritten note with my cell phone on it. And instead of responding, he publish[ed] on the internet my cell phone,” he said. “So he hasn’t been giving us answers and this is very important for the Hispanic community and this is personal, so we’re talking about the lives, throwing the lives of millions of people if [this] man goes ahead.”
Mr. Trump did something similar to Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina last month. After Mr. Graham, one of Mr. Trump’s 2016 GOP rivals, referred to Mr. Trump as a “jackass,” Mr. Trump read aloud Mr. Graham’s cell phone number at a campaign rally in the senator’s home state.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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